Canada

December 08, 2013

What’s the hottest headwear in Montreal on these cold winter days? Surprisingly, it’s not woolen toques or fur hats. Lately, Quebecers wanting to make a fashionable, yet political, statement are wearing kippot covered in the Fleur-de-lis.

The kippot are the brainchild of a young Montreal rabbi who felt it was time for Jewish Quebecers to wear their opposition to Bill 60 not only on their sleeves, but also on their heads.

The province’s ruling nationalist Parti Quebecois, led by Premier Pauline Marois, tabled Bill 60 in the National Assembly in early November. The proposed legislation, also known as the Charter of Quebec Values, would ban the display of religious symbols and the wearing of religious garb by public employees.

“The best way to protest the charter is to wear religious symbols,” says Rabbi Yisroel Bernath. Known as “Montreal’s Hip Rabbi,” he is the spiritual director of Chabad Notre-Dame-de-Grace & Loyola Campus, and the Jewish chaplain at Concordia University.

Bernath, a 31-year-old transplant from Chicago, is astonished at how hisQuébec Kippa has taken off. Right after Bill 60 was tabled, he made a mock-up image of the skullcap and posted it on his Facebook and Twitter feeds. The link went viral, and people started asking him when he was going to actually make the kippot featuring the provincial symbol.

Initially, the rabbi and his friend Herschel Weil bought some white kippot and ironed on a Fleur-de-lis patch. Soon after, they found a fabric with the appropriate pattern and approached kippa-maker Rhonda Levy, asking her to make a batch of 400 kippot for them.

“I really wanted it to be made locally in Quebec,” Bernath emphasizes.

May 02, 2013

TORONTO - York Regional Police threatened to remove a rabbi as one of the force’s chaplains if he hosted a controversial anti-Islamist speaker at his Thornhill synagogue.

Insp. Ricky Veerappan, of the force’s diversity, equity and inclusion bureau, confirmed he and officers from the service’s hate crimes unit met with Rabbi Mendel Kaplan of the Chabad Flamingo Synagogue on Tuesday.

They expressed concern about an upcoming talk to be given by Pamela Geller, a vocal critic of radical Islam. She protested past plans to build a mosque near Ground Zero in New York City, and has posted anti-Jihad messages in that city’s subway system.

Subsequent to his meeting with police, Kaplan cancelled Geller’s May 13 talk, which was sponsored by the Jewish Defence League (JDL) — a hard-line advocacy group that had rented space in Kaplan’s synagogue for the event.

“I think the police are turning a blind eye to who they should be keeping an eye on,” said the JDL’s Meir Weinstein, referring to radical Islamists. Weinstein said another location will be chosen for Geller’s appearance.

Veerappan said he told Kaplan that Geller’s speech “would not be endorsed by York Regional Police” and that the rabbi’s role as a force chaplain would be thrown into question if he were to permit the event.

“If he did (host Geller), then we’d have to reassess our relationship with (Kaplan),” Veerappan said. “We serve the needs of the entire community. Some of the stuff that Ms. Geller speaks about runs contrary to the values of York Regional Police and the work we do in engaging our communities.”

Veerappan said a member of York Region's Muslim community, whom he wouldn’t identify, brought Geller’s scheduled talk to the attention of police.

York Regional Police enlist eight chaplains of different faiths to counsel police officers and their families. Among them is a Muslim chaplain, Imam Abdul Hai Patel.

April 09, 2013

WASHINGTON -- The owner of the Ambassador Bridge has filed a lawsuit against a number of federal officials -- the U.S. secretaries of state, transportation and homeland security among them -- and the Canadian government as the company tries to block the building of a rival Detroit River bridge, and force approval for its own second span to Windsor.

The new complaint, now quietly winding its way through federal court in Washington, D.C., was filed in February but was dated Nov. 9, just three days after last year's referendum in which Michigan voters rejected a constitutional amendment that would have required a statewide and local vote before the state spent any money on a new international bridge or tunnel to Canada.

In the lawsuit, the Detroit International Bridge Co., the family business controlled by Manuel (Matty) Moroun that owns the 84-year-old Ambassador Bridge, claims a "perpetual and exclusive franchise right" to operate the crossing free of competition from another span. It says the proposed New International Trade Crossing would "destroy" the value of its franchise, and argues that the process by which the State Department would approve a deal between Michigan and Canada to build the rival bridge is unconstitutional.

January 11, 2013

Leave it to "The Daily Show' to find the absurdity in one of Detroit's oddest political battles.

A segment on the comedy news show hosted by Al Madrigal looked at the plan to build a new bridge to Canada -- free to Michigan taxpayers -- and the surreal opposition to it that's been powered by billionaire Matty Moroun, who happens to own Detroit's other bridge to Windsor.

Watch the video above to see Madrigal go where others can't, as he pokes fun at Detroit, pesters a toll booth operator in search of Moroun, calls out a "soccer mom" for her Canada hating and asks one famed local activist with the New Black Panther Nation why he's working for the man.

November 01, 2012

Proposal 6 must be defeated at the polls to stop a billionaire’s attempt to enshrine his monopoly into the Michigan Constitution.

Billed as the democratic-sounding “People Should Decide” proposal, supporters say a yes vote will give you a voice in whether a new Detroit-Windsor bridge is built with public dollars.

We wonder if a ballot measure has ever been so cynically named, because Proposal 6 isn’t about democracy at all. It’s about protecting the monopoly of Matty Moroun, owner of the Ambassador Bridge, at the expense of Michigan’s economic interests.

Yes, advertisements about the supposed costs to Michigan taxpayers of the New International Trade Crossing have been compelling. They have also, according to the non-partisan Michigan Truth Squad, ranged from flagrant misrepresentations to all-out lies.

So let’s put aside the images of teachers and other ordinary folk claiming to be concerned about “real people” and look at three crucial reasons this proposal should be defeated.

The proposed bridge is critical to Michigan’s economic future

The 83-year-old Ambassador Bridge carries 25 percent of all U.S.-Canada trade, but its location is inefficient for commercial vehicles. A new bridge that connects directly with Ontario’s 401 highway would be good for business and is vital to our economic future.

The Troll has been spamming the airwaves with attack ads and postal mail. DO NOT BE TRICKED by his deceptive methods. The only one to benefit by the passing of Proposal 6 is The Troll, everyone else will suffer.

July 19, 2012

DETROIT, July 18 (UPI) -- Detroit police and U.S. Homeland Security personnel responded to a bomb threat at Comerica Park Tuesday night and said no suspicious device was found.

The bomb threat -- the second in the Detroit area this week -- was phoned in to 9-1-1 at about 8 p.m. during the game between the Detroit Tigers and the Los Angeles Angels, Sgt. Eren Stephens told The Detroit News. No one was evacuated from the park, and the all-clear was given by 11 p.m., the newspaper said.

A bomb threat shut down the Ambassador Bridge, which spans the border with Canada, from about 7 p.m. Monday to 1 a.m. Tuesday, and a similar threat was received for the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel last week.

"We're following leads, and relative to the most recent incident; I think they're promising leads," Police Chief Ralph Godbee said. "But we're far from saying we're close to closing anything."

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and Canadian leaders last month announced an agreement to build a new border crossing. A spokeswoman for Snyder Tuesday cited "homeland security and economic security issues" as factors that show the need for an additional border crossing.

July 18, 2012

Frank Dimant knew what he was going to have for his “last lunch” days before he sat down at his table at Marky’s Deli & Restaurant. The cabbage borscht soup and a kishka had been on his mind since he heard the 43-year-old institution was closing.

“You absolutely can’t get this anywhere else in the city,” says Dimant, the executive vice-president of B’nai Brith. “This is the last of the really kosher Eastern-European Jewish delis, so it’s hard to see it go.”

After 43 years at the centre of the Bathurst and Wilson Jewish community, Marky’s is shutting down on July 18. While there’s no shortage of kosher restaurants in Toronto, many of the new entrants serve Middle Eastern-inspired food such as falafel and kebabs, not traditional European kosher fare such as liver and onions and goulashes, which are staples on Marky’s menu.

Owner Erez Karp says tougher economic conditions hastened his decision to close the premises. In the last year four kosher meat restaurants — ranging from Chinese food to upscale mixed grill restaurants — have also shuttered their doors in the GTA.

“It’s just been very tough on Orthodox families,” he said, noting that they typically send their children to private schools and pay a premium on real estate so they can be close to places of worship. With money tight “eating out becomes a major treat,” explains Karp.

Dimant says there are more than 200,000 Jews in the GTA, with anywhere from 15 to 20 per cent being orthodox, who require their food be kosher. Jewish dietary law restricts what they can eat and how their food is prepared.

January 27, 2012

The Ambassador Bridge company has aired another television ad in its campaign to defeat Gov. Rick Snyder’s proposed new bridge to Canada, this time directly criticizing the judge who threw bridge company leaders in jail this month.

The 30-second spot shows a photograph of Wayne County Circuit Judge Prentis Edwards and, in a voice-over commentary, calls him “an activist Detroit judge” who put bridge officials in jail.

Edwards’ office said he would have no comment on the ad.

The ad implies that Edwards acted because Snyder recently appointed Edwards’ son to a judgeship in Wayne County.

Earlier this month, Edwards jailed bridge owner Manuel (Matty) Moroun and his top aide, Dan Stamper, president of the Detroit International Bridge Co., for civil contempt of court for the DIBC’s failure to complete the long-delayed Gateway project at the Ambassador Bridge as the judge ordered in February 2010.

In the new ad, the company says that it is the Michigan Department of Transportation that has refused to finish the project because “Gov. Snyder wants to build his own $2-billion bridge.”

And the ad implies that taxpayers will have to pay for the bridge even though Snyder has made clear that Canada will front Michigan’s portion of the cost and be paid back through future bridge tolls.

Snyder spokeswoman Sara Wurfel said the administration has found it “challenging” to counter the advertising onslaught, which she said totaled more than $5 million before this latest round began.

The Troll is whining that the state Department of Transportation is responsible for completing the access ramps, not him as the court ruled. The ramps could have been completed already if he had spent the money on his obligations instead of these attack ads.

January 16, 2012

Once upon a time, there were Three Billy Goats Gruff, and their names were Robbie, Rapey, and Stabby. The Three Billy Goats lived in the land of Detroit, which was very poor and they often did not have enough to eat, or good health care. But just across the river was the Land of Canada, which had low-cost pharmaceuticals and Free Health Care for All. So the oldest Billy Goat Gruff said to his siblings, "Let us go over the river to Canada, where we can frolic in the meadow and enjoy Free Health Care!" And the other Billy Goats said, "Yeah, let's go to Canada!"

So the littlest Billy Goat set out for Canada across the Bridge. Trip trap, trip trap. And the mean old ugly Troll who owned the Bridge yelled out "WHO'S THAT TRIP TRAPPIN ACROSS MY BRIDGE!"

"It is I, the littlest Billy Goat Gruff!"

"What's your name, Billy Goat Gruff?"

"My name is Robbie" said the littlest Billy Goat Gruff.

"Well if your name is Robbie," said the Troll, "I am going to rob you!"

"Oh ho," said the Troll and he showed Robbie the collection of mats in his Troll Cave, everything from $12.99 bath mats from Bed, Bath & Beyond to antique Persian prayer mats worth many thousands of dollars. "There is nothing you can mat me with that I don't already have!"

"Well then," said the littlest Billy Goat Gruff, "I have nothing for you to rob, Mr. Troll, Matty, sir! Why don't you wait for my sister, Rapey, and you can rob and rape her!"

"What kind of a sick perv are you," said the Troll, "you would give up your own sister for me to rob and rape?"

"But that's in the original story! The littlest Billy Goat Gruff tells the Troll to wait for the next Billy Goat!"

"Well OK then," said the Troll. "Now get out of here before I change my mind!" And Robbie, the littlest Billy Goat Gruff, scampered across the Bridge to Canada, where there was Free Health Care for All.

The Troll kind of liked the idea of robbing and raping the next Billy Goat, so he went into his Troll Cave and prepared a nice cocktail with some roofies. Then he looked around and decided that his Troll Cave was not romantic enough (Trolls need a very run-down and decrepit environment) and he looked for another Troll Cave that was even more ruined and destroyed. He looked at the old Clark St. Assembly Plant and the David Whitney Building, but what finally caught his eye was the Michigan Central Depot. "Aha!" cried the Troll. "This is the most devastated ruin in all of Detroit!" and he promptly bought the Michigan Central Depot as a Troll Hideout in which to do all his evil deeds.

"Are you the one they call Rapey?" inquired the Troll with a mean gleam in his eye. "Why don't we step into my Troll Cave and enjoy a cocktail together?"

"Oh no you don't!" cried Rapey, brandishing a can of Pepper Spray at the Troll. "Just you wait until my brother, the Biggest Billy Goat Gruff, shows up here. He will kick your ass!"

"My ass is very well protected," sneered the Troll. "I have a swarm of orc lawyers who will guarantee that I can rob and rape you and totally get away with it! Now drink this roofie cocktail!"

Rapey squirted the Pepper Spray directly into the Troll's eyes and scampered over the Bridge to Canada, where there is Free Health Care for All.

The Troll screamed in rage and anger and then called in his swarm of orc lawyers on how he could sue Rapey and get the rape and robbery that he deserved. But the orcs informed him that since Rapey had fled to Canada, there was no way he could make her come back across the border.

The Troll vowed revenge and in the meantime he built a huge Duty Free Plaza underneath his Bridge. He built a huge fuel reservoir which he filled with Duty Free diesel fuel and gasoline, and a Duty Free Store which he filled with the finest Duty Free liquor, cigarettes, fragrances and cosmetics, but which he sold for pennies less than the retail price and kept the difference for himself. He blocked off all the access roads so that no one could pass over the Bridge without visiting the Duty Free Store (which prices were not any different than any other retail store, and higher than online).

The Troll took out his rage on the humble citizens of "Mexican Town" a little village in the shadow of the Troll's Bridge. Because the Troll had blocked all the highway access ramps, large container trucks rumbled through the narrow streets of the quiet village, creating monstrous traffic jams. The villagers banded together, formed a group called "Occupy The Troll's Bridge" and marching with torches and pitchforks, presented the Troll with court orders to remove the barricades and complete the highway access ramps. The Troll used the court orders to wipe his horny, gamy troll buttocks and jeered at the villagers: "Make me!"

The villagers met up with the oldest and the biggest Billy Goat Gruff, Stabby, and voted him the leader of their group. Followed by a phalanx of process servers and officers of the court, The Biggest Billy Goat Gruff set off across the Bridge. Trip, trap, trip, trap!

"WHO'S THAT TRIP TRAPPIN ACROSS MY BRIDGE!" yelled the Troll.

"It is I, Stabby, the Oldest and Biggest Billy Goat Gruff, with the villagers of Occupy The Bridge and a swarm of process servers and police officers and WE ARE ALL HERE TO KICK YOUR ASS!" shouted the Billy Goat Gruff.

The Troll and his swarm of lawyer trolls put up a fight, but the Biggest Billy Goat Gruff, the villagers, police officers and Occupy the Bridge managed to overpower the Troll and cast him into a dark, dank dungeon where, they said, he would remain until the barricades were removed, the highway access ramps completed, and prices at the Duty Free Store brought down to reflect the Duty-Freeness.

"F*** YOU!" roared the Troll. "I like it in here! Anyway my swarm of orc lawyers will get me out tomorrow!"

The police officers then arrested Stabby the Billy Goat Gruff for carrying a concealed switchblade while attempting to cross an international border.

November 18, 2011

One of the largest international portals in North America is owned by one evil Troll.

DETROIT -- In this city of relics, one rises above the rest: the Ambassador Bridge, the sole route for almost all freight traffic traveling from here to Canada, and its two 386-foot tall towers. Open since 1929, the bridge is an iconic sight to Detroiters. But even icons have their flaws.

The Big Three automakers so critical to Michigan's economy say they are dangerously reliant on the narrow, 82-year-old bridge's continued good condition. An effort to build a replacement, called the New International Trade Crossing, failed a key vote in Michigan's state Senate last month. Lawmakers balked, even though the state's $550 million contribution required to bring in federal funding would have been paid for by the Canadian government.

A quarter of the United States' freight traffic with Canada crosses over the Ambassador Bridge. Were severe weather or structural deficiencies to close the bridge -- even just briefly -- the "just-in-time" inventory system that the automakers increasingly rely upon could be severely disrupted. Factories on both sides of the river could close within hours: Chrysler, for example, says that engines from Trenton, Mich., cross over for assembly in Canada every day.

"You have a significant bottleneck, the worst bottleneck in the North American freeway system," said Michigan Lt. Gov. Brian Calley, who along with a fellow Republican, Gov. Rick Snyder, has aligned himself with labor and the Big Three in favor of a second bridge over the Detroit River.

Efforts to replace or complement the bridge, however, have hit a bottleneck of their own. In a fluke of history, the Ambassador is controlled by a single, privately owned company -- one that traces its lineage back to the original franchise created by Congress to build the bridge in the 1920s.

"I believe it's the only international border crossing that is privately owned," said Robert Puentes, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution's Metropolitan Policy Program. (The Ambassador is the only major privately owned U.S. international crossing; the Fort Frances-International Falls Bridge is also privately owned.)

In 1921, Congress gave a private company backed by prominent Detroiters a franchise to build a bridge to Canada. The move followed years of schemes to build a tunnel or a bridge, spurred by complaints from private business that crossing the river by ferry, treacherous in winter, was denying them access to markets.

When the bridge-makers began their struggles, there was "no way to know if this is going to work," according to Robert Sedler, a law professor who consults for the company that owns the bridge.

"It's a daunting engineering feat to get a suspension bridge over the Detroit River between Detroit and Windsor," he added. "Also, can you make a financial go of it? Will there be enough traffic over the years to make a financial go of it? So the government of the United States, and the Government of Great Britain, which then had what we call the Dominion of Canada, said, 'let's make a deal.'"

The deal made was for the untested bridge to be built with private money. Shares in the bridge company eventually passed into the control of Manuel "Matty" Moroun, who was born two years before the bridge itself opened in 1929. For decades, in courts and in the halls of power, Moroun has fought a series of battles to keep his hold on the bridge's highly lucrative tolls. Detroit's river crossing options are frozen in time -- and, just as they were during the early 20th century, agricultural and manufacturing interests aren't happy about their current options. Moroun's company, the Detroit International Bridge Company, declined to comment for this article.

It's hard to believe that in this day and age a single individual can have absolute control over such a critical resource as a major international border crossing. This explains the hysterical ads that were run all over Michigan media, shrieking against the proposed new high-traffic bridge that would compete with the Troll.

This ad, which was broadcast over Michigan media ad nauseum, is the hysterical shrieking rant of one entitled Troll who can't stand any kind of competition. So much for "free market capitalism."

June 16, 2011

2 Scary Jew Shadows threaten last year's Mavi Marmara, used by National Post to illustrate this article.

For five years, Gazans have lived with the effects of a punitively restrictive blockade enforced by Israel on the one side and Egypt on the other. The blockade, initiated following the election of Hamas, delegitimizes the real needs and concerns of the people living in Gaza, a place that has been referred to as an open-air prison of 1.5 million people. Gazans are systematically deprived of nutritious food and the means to grow it [wait, what about those greenhouses?], clean water, safe housing and the opportunity to rebuild it. Israel still controls all access points in conjunction with Egypt. It prevents fishermen from going out far enough in the harbour to catch fish and it prevents farmers from using the rich agricultural land near the borders.

Therefore, I will be a delegate on the Canadian Boat to Gaza, the Tahrir, part of Freedom Flotilla II, which will be carrying humanitarian aid.

May 27, 2011

TORONTO (JTA) -- A Toronto committee voted that the participation of an anti-Israel group in the city's annual Gay Pride parade does not violate anti-discrimination rules.

After months of debate, Toronto's executive committee voted unanimously May 24 to back a report by the city manager, which ruled that the term "Israeli apartheid" does not violate Toronto's anti-discrimination policies, and that public funding for the parade should not be contingent on the participation of Queers Against Israeli Apartheid.

The controversy has been brewing since last summer, when some City Council members joined Jewish officials to question whether the participation of Queers Against Israeli Apartheid in the annual Pride festival should warrant the revocation of city funding for the event.

Last year, Pride received a $123,807 city grant and $245,000 worth of services, such as litter cleanup and police services. Municipal support amounts to about one quarter of the festival's budget.

In April, Queers Against Israeli Apartheid promised not to participate in this year's festivities. But some City Council members called that pledge insufficient.

Funding for this summer's parade will be determined after the event, council member Giorgio Mammoliti told the media following the executive committee meeting.

"QAIA better stay away," Mammoliti was quoted as saying in Toronto's gay newspaper, Xtra. "If they think they can do what they want at the expense of the taxpayer, they're wrong."

Mammoliti added, "This councillor will defend the Jewish community, and I'll do it in an aggressive way."

Len Rudner of the Canadian Jewish Congress said he disagrees with the city manager's report.

"In Canada it is possible to be anti-Semitic and homophobic and yet not break the law," Rudner told the Toronto Sun. "The question should not be whether such statements are legal or not but whether they accord with the values, in this case, of the City of Toronto."

February 23, 2011

Toronto it's not, but Metulla's Canada Centre provides a cool venue for immigrant and native Israelis thirsting for fast-paced fun on the ice.

A mere kilometer from the Lebanese border, Israel's only permanent regulation-size ice rink draws hockey players of all ages from throughout the country. It's not a sport normally associated with the Middle East, but for Israel's many Russian and Canadian immigrants, ice hockey is part of their culture. And they're willing to drive for hours to maintain it.

Since its start in 1989, the federation has started drawing native Israelis as well, and competing in an international division. Kids come for two-day mini-camps on the ice, and senior leagues - with players from 16 to 60 -- meet weekly. When they're not at the Metulla rink, most players must practice on rollerblades for lack of an appropriate venue.

Plans are afoot to build a second Olympic-size rink in central Israel. For now, however, the diehards are happy to trek up north to the Canada Centre for a bracing breath of cold air and an action-packed, competitive workout.

February 21, 2011

TORONTO (JTA) -- A Jewish taxi driver in Montreal may not display religious artifacts and other objects in his cab, a Quebec court ruled.

Arieh Perecowicz, 66, a taxi driver for the last 44 years, lost his much-publicized case Feb. 17 when a municipal court upheld several fines against him for having too many personal and religious objects in his car.

He was ordered to pay $1,300, about $600 of that for court costs.

Perecowicz argued that he was comforted by having articles of his Jewish faith in the car, including photos of the late Lubavitcher rebbe and two mezuzahs affixed to the car frame between the front and back doors.

At various times, his decorations included photos of his wife and daughter, small Canadian and Israeli flags and a Remembrance Day poppy.

Over the years, Montreal Taxi Bureau authorities fined Perecowicz eight times under a bylaw that bans any "object or inscription that is not required for the taxi to be in service."

Perecowicz argued that the bylaw violated his freedom of expression.

He has changed cars and now has three small images of the Rebbe which he says are not visible from the back seat, and the two mezuzot.

He does not plan to remove the personal effects from his cab, and told the Montreal Gazette he will appeal the ruling "all the way to the Supreme Court, if I have to."

February 08, 2011

BLANTYRE (AFP) – Malawian lawmakers will next week debate a law change to criminalise public farting, which a cabinet minister said had been encouraged by democracy.

"The government has a right to ensure public decency. We are entitled to introduce order in the country," justice and constitutional affairs minister George Chaponda told independent radio station Capital Radio.

"Would you like to see people farting in public anywhere?"

Since the country embraced multi-party politics 16 years ago people had felt free to fart anywhere, said Chaponda.

"It was not there during the time of dictatorship because people were afraid of the consequences. Now because of multipartism or freedom, people would like to fart anywhere, he said.

Chaponda, a key figure in President Bingu wa Mutharika's government, said that if Malawians cannot control their farting "they should go to the toilet instead of farting in public."

"Nature can be controlled... it becomes a nuisance if people fart anywhere."

A lawyer himself, Chaponda said that under the amended law farting will be considered a minor offence.

Chaponda's Democratic Progressive Party will bank on its majority to pass the amendment to a law which was first introduced in 1929.

The amendment, which will make farting in public an offence, is not yet public and it will be presented to parliament for debate as part of a review by the state-sponsored Law Commission of the country's penal code.

Nobody in Malawi has been arrested nor convicted for farting under the old law, as police did not enforce it.

The old law states: "Any person who voluntarily vitiates the atmosphere in any place so as to make it noxious to the health of persons in general dwelling or carrying on business in the neighbourhood or passing along a public way, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour."

Peto argues that the two programs cause Jews to falsely believe they are innocent victims. In reality, she writes, they are privileged white people who “cannot see their own racism.” The “construction of a victimized Jewish identity,” she argues, is intentional: It produces “effects that are extremely beneficial to the organized Jewish community” and to “apartheid” Israel.

Peto contends that “Zionist politics” are hidden behind the “liberal-sounding goals” of the March of Remembrance and Hope. She writes that there are “questions about the implications of white Jews taking it upon themselves to educate people of colour about genocide, racism and intolerance.”

The program, however, is not run by a Jewish group. Its parent organization is the Canadian Centre for Diversity, which teaches young people to fight discrimination.

“She makes unwarranted claims and false statements about our philosophy, our goals and objectives and our methodology. . .We were shocked and offended to read the thesis,” said Carla Wittes, the centre’s programs director. “We are a non-faith-based organization concerned with educating people about the dangers of discrimination, and the Holocaust is obviously a prime example.”

August 26, 2010

OTTAWA (Reuters) – Three men arrested in Canada on terror-related charges -- one of whom was reported to have once auditioned for the "Canadian Idol" TV show -- were plotting bomb attacks and had connections to a group fighting coalition forces in Afghanistan, police said on Thursday.

Police arrested two of the men in Ottawa on Wednesday and a third in London, Ontario, following a nearly year-long investigation in the country's biggest anti-terror sweep since a plan by the "Toronto 18" conspirators to blow up Canadian landmarks was uncovered in 2006.

The lead investigator said police made the arrests this week because they believed an attack was imminent.

"This group posed a real and serious threat to the national capital region and Canada's national security," Serge Therriault, chief investigator for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, told reporters.

"Our criminal investigation and arrests prevented the assembly of any bombs and the terrorist attack or attacks from being carried out."

Police said they found the suspects, all of whom are Canadian citizens, in possession of bomb-making instructions and more than 50 electronic circuit boards that were expected to be used to detonate improvised explosive devices.

The suspects were identified as Hiva Mohammad Alizadeh, 30, Misbahuddin Ahmed, 26, both of Ottawa, and Khurram Syed Sher, of London, Ontario.

Police declined to comment on specific charges and said the investigation continued. The men are accused of conspiring with others in Canada, Iran, Afghanistan, Dubai and Pakistan.

The two Ottawa suspects made a brief court appearance on Thursday, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.

The Toronto Star newspaper reported that Sher auditioned for the Canadian version of the "American Idol" reality show in 2008.

In a YouTube video of the episode, a man tells the judges that he arrived in Canada in 2005 from his native Pakistan before he performs a stilted rendition of the Avril Lavigne tune "Complicated" while dancing and "moon-walking". The panel rejects him.

August 10, 2010

A taxi transformed into a synagogue? "David's Taxi" Driver is saying "Come in, may G-D be with you!"

MONTREAL - A local Montreal newspaper said it did not mean to offend the Jewish community by printing a cartoon depicting a Hasidic Jew with a taxi cab, but nonetheless defended itself, saying a cartoon is meant to be an exaggeration of the characters and the broader situation, and anyone could be the subject of one.

The cartoon, which was published in the July 2010 issue of La Metropole, depicts a Hasidic Jew calling to passengers from his cab, labelled Taxi de David, “Come in! May Yaveh be with you ...” The headline of the cartoon reads, “A taxi transformed into a ... synagogue?”

By definition a cartoon is meant to be an exaggeration, said Richard Marcil, editor-in-chief of La Metropole.

“We saw nothing offensive in it,” Marcil said of the cartoonist Métyvié’s drawing.

It was meant to raise questions about a local news event and was not published with anti-Semitic sentiment, he said.

The cartoon refers to the story of Montreal cab driver Arieh Perecowicz, who was fined $1,400 by the Montreal Taxi Bureau for having too much stuff in his cab, including photos of his family and his Rabbi, mezuzahs (prayer parchments), a poppy and a Canadian flag, among other things.

Perecowicz is now suing the city for damages, saying the bylaw, which restricts the display of objects not required for the taxi to be in service, is discriminatory and that he was singled out for having Jewish religious objects in his cab.

Perecowicz is not a Hasidic Jew, but he does believe in God, he said.

He told the Gazette he had not seen the cartoon.

Throughout July, members of Montreal’s Jewish community wrote to La Metropole and complained to the province’s Jewish advocacy groups, saying the cartoon is anti-Semitic and offensive.

“The stereotype of the Jew with the long hooked nose and the side curls is something you would see in 1930s Germany, not something you would see in a 21st-century Canadian newspaper,” said Moise Moghrabi, the vice-president of B’nai Brith Canada. “It’s reminiscent of a different era."